HC Deb 28 July 1953 vol 518 cc140-1W
Mr. P. Roberts

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether in view of the importance of the emergency feeding unit of the welfare section of the Civil Defence Corps, he will consider allowing women under 30 years of age to be eligible to join this side of Civil Defence.

Sit D. Maxwell Fyfe

Apart from the food flying squads, for which recruitment is quite satisfactory throughout practically the whole of England and Wales, women are not recruited into the welfare section of the Civil Defence Corps for specific duties. Instead, they are expected to carry out any of the many different tasks allotted to the section that might require to be done in time of war. Moreover, it is considered that older women are, in general, better suited to welfare work, and that younger women should be restricted to the more active duties that fall to other sections of the Corps.